What's new
By:
Filters

Pond restoration/ algae management experience?

WTF?

WTF?

degenerate at large
Joined
May 19, 2020
Member Number
185
Messages
251
Loc
Eastern, NC
I'm under contract on several acres bordering my land, that includes a derelict/ overgrown/ neglected pond around 1/3 of an acre.
Water levels seem to be stable but it's mostly stagnant with no visible surface outflow. and i have no idea what the depth is until i'm bold enough to launch a canoe or jon boat into it, but there's something making ripples beneath the surface which leaves a glimmer of hope for fish and i know frogs are in abundance,

Has anyone used algaecide products like this before; Mizzen - Copper Based Pond Algaecide for Algae Control | Lake Restoration
the skeptic wonders if its gonna be a lighting $50 on fire as I know how hard it is to kill algae in my well chlorinated pool.


Present condition:

1723151848314.png



I also know I want to clear underbrush away from the banks while preserving tree root structure that is aiding in stabilizing it.
 
Copper Sulfate will kill off the alge.. You are going to have to do the math on how many gallons your treating. EPA and premits???
It takes alot to harm birds and stuff. I use it in a small fountain; maybe 3grams per 20 gallons. :smokin::smokin::smokin:

IMHO; That swamp looks really cool... I wouldn't fuck with it. Good place to hide a body! :stirthepot::stirthepot::stirthepot::stirthepot:
 
Last edited:
It should drop the alge bloom pretty substantially, another option is alge eating carp. They do a good job on long term control.

We used a fish safe one and it was like 1 cup for our small pond. I can’t remember what kind it was.
 
Half acre pond, was built maybe 2004-ish? Looked identical to your pic in 2018... bought 20 little grass carp and dumped them in and it was mostly gone the following year.

FWIW blue channel cat also eat that shit, just not as much as the grass carp do.
 
45acp said:
Half acre pond, was built maybe 2004-ish? Looked identical to your pic in 2018... bought 20 little grass carp and dumped them in and it was mostly gone the following year.
Click to expand...

20 grass carp in a half-acre pond? I put a dozen in six acres, and they cleaned it up in a year or two. Those things grew to over 3 feet before they died. They looked like a damn alligator gar swimming the shoreline.
 
billdacat said:
IMHO; That swamp looks really cool... I wouldn't fuck with it. Good place to hide a body! :stirthepot::stirthepot::stirthepot::stirthepot:
Click to expand...


There’s a deeper and less accessible swamp pond on the other side of the pond dam for such purposes should they be needed.
 
Clb said:
Blueshade still a thing?
Click to expand...

That stuff worked better on submerged vegetation. That is some wicked dye. I put two gallons out on six acres with an average eight-foot depth. Turned it a dark blue. I haven't used it in years though.
 
crispins said:
It has been my dream to own a pond forever, I would love that.

I think the fish are the way to go, don't use chemicals and get aeration going asap as well
Click to expand...

Yeah, the lack of a natural water feature is the one wishlist item lacking from my accumulated contiguous parcels. Something about my kid learning to fish in the back 40 has a big appeal to me.

It’s gonna be a long electrical run to get power out there unless I add another meter and rv post, neither of which are currently near the top 50 on my project spending list .
 
Last edited:
A been thinking about building a pond for years. Congrats. Watching for answers
 
WTF? said:
Yeah, the lack of a natural water feature is the one wishlist item lacking from my accumulated contiguous parcels. Something about my kid learning to fish in the back 40 has a big appeal to me.

It’s gonna be a long electrical run to get power out there unless I add another meter and rv post, neither of which are currently near the top 50 on my project spending list .
Click to expand...

I've been seeing a bunch of ads lately for solar aerators. Might be worth looking into.
 
WTF? said:
Yeah, the lack of a natural water feature is the one wishlist item lacking from my accumulated contiguous parcels. Something about my kid learning to fish in the back 40 has a big appeal to me.

It’s gonna be a long electrical run to get power out there unless I add another meter and rv post, neither of which are currently near the top 50 on my project spending list .
Click to expand...
My buddy did a float fountain thing and a solar panel with a car battery, works good for him.

Similar sized pond as well
 
Last place had an ~1/4 pond that was a key feature of the whole property so I sank a bunch of time and money into trying to keep it as clean as possible. First step for you is trying to decide what you want it to be. Swimming pool clean? Fishing habitat for giant bass? Watering hole for cows?

Some key learnings:
  • The amount of water in even a "small" pond is a whole lot so any changes you are going to make aren't going to be as significant as the amount of effort or $ you have to put in feels like.
  • It is a pond you are never going to be able to keep it swimming pool clean all the time
  • Copper solutions will help kill off what you see however the bio load that makes algae in the first place is still there so it will re bloom.
  • Removing bioload is the path to long term solution, however it is always being added to by anything that flows or blows into the pond.
  • Scooping algae results in what feels like a lot of material removed, however see point #1
  • Dye helps prevent blooms but even with the water an unnatural hue it didn't stop them.
  • I used tilapia in as a help to keep the algae down as they apparently go after algae more preferentially then grass carp. However they are illegal to stock in several states as they are considered invasive. They were permitted where I lived because the winters were cold enough to kill them off every year which was good to control if any were to have escaped, but meant buying new fish every year. They still were possibly the most effective/least labor intensive help I found.
  • Pond Boss Forum - Forums powered by UBB.threads <-- whole bunch of learning and pond nerds including several in the business.
Overall though a combination of aeration, dye, algecide, fish, and work I was able to keep it looking pretty good all the time but like all things if you let it go for a bit there is a price to pay to catch up.
 
Fwiw
Thinking back from when I did ranch mgt. I researched this a bit.

Newly acquired property that was being turned into a residential place.

The old frost protection pond was like an acre plus , property went fallow and pond turned.
The pro's from dover doing the ag portion of the property said the best natural remedy was to agitate and aireate sp ( add oxygen).
 
Black Sabbath said:
Last place had an ~1/4 pond that was a key feature of the whole property so I sank a bunch of time and money into trying to keep it as clean as possible. First step for you is trying to decide what you want it to be. Swimming pool clean? Fishing habitat for giant bass? Watering hole for cows?

Some key learnings:
  • The amount of water in even a "small" pond is a whole lot so any changes you are going to make aren't going to be as significant as the amount of effort or $ you have to put in feels like.
  • It is a pond you are never going to be able to keep it swimming pool clean all the time
  • Copper solutions will help kill off what you see however the bio load that makes algae in the first place is still there so it will re bloom.
  • Removing bioload is the path to long term solution, however it is always being added to by anything that flows or blows into the pond.
  • Scooping algae results in what feels like a lot of material removed, however see point #1
  • Dye helps prevent blooms but even with the water an unnatural hue it didn't stop them.
  • I used tilapia in as a help to keep the algae down as they apparently go after algae more preferentially then grass carp. However they are illegal to stock in several states as they are considered invasive. They were permitted where I lived because the winters were cold enough to kill them off every year which was good to control if any were to have escaped, but meant buying new fish every year. They still were possibly the most effective/least labor intensive help I found.
  • Pond Boss Forum - Forums powered by UBB.threads <-- whole bunch of learning and pond nerds including several in the business.
Overall though a combination of aeration, dye, algecide, fish, and work I was able to keep it looking pretty good all the time but like all things if you let it go for a bit there is a price to pay to catch up.
Click to expand...


We have my wife’s 25k gal pool I can barely keep clear so I have no interest in making it pristine,

just a bream/ bluegill fishing pond for the family to enjoy.

and I don’t ever see any livestock larger than a handful of hobby goats/alpaca/ miniature donkey in the intermediate future.

The dye’s fake look is offensive to my eye, so I’d rather skip that.
 
Me personally. I'd use the 50% h2o2 I have that we use to treat water and get an aerator.
 
I have used the blue pond dye with little success and once it got out of control I could not stay ahead it. My pond is only being 4-6 feet deep, has minor outflow, and 100+ degree temps, the algae bloom is now bad.

I worry the copper sulfate will kill the algae, then all the dead matter will settle on my gravel bed at the bottom which could plug my spring.

Will fish survive in those conditions (shallow, hot) to eat it?

I know I need to aerate.
 
Ranch Hand said:
20 grass carp in a half-acre pond? I put a dozen in six acres, and they cleaned it up in a year or two. Those things grew to over 3 feet before they died. They looked like a damn alligator gar swimming the shoreline.
Click to expand...
Yea, it was excessive. :laughing: I assume they died off relatively quick from lack of food. Cleaned it up good.
clodhopper said:
Where do you buy grass carp?
Click to expand...
Here any fishery will have them. They're sterile. I think the rules vary depending on location. This is "just barely" in AR, could be different on TX side or LA.
 
I live in a gated golf community that has pretty good sized ponds everywhere. Common denominator of them all is that they all have big fountain heads to aerate them all. They all look healthy and relatively clean. I've also seen the grounds keepers occasionally deal with seasonal algae blooms chemically. But I'm not sure what they use because it doesn't seem to kill the frogs or turtles, or the water fowl that occasionally visit the ponds. Some of the bigger ponds have some sort of fish.

Google "golf course pond maintenance". Some good info there.
 
Throw a round bale of hay in it. Add another each year at hay time and it will clear up the algae.
 
bgaidan said:
I've been seeing a bunch of ads lately for solar aerators. Might be worth looking into.
Click to expand...
Yep, I second this.

You don't have to move a lot of water and it doesn't want to run 24/7

My wife has swapped our garden over to mostly solar stuff and it is crazy how long some of that stuff runs now on just a few hours light.
 
WTF? said:
Yeah, the lack of a natural water feature is the one wishlist item lacking from my accumulated contiguous parcels. Something about my kid learning to fish in the back 40 has a big appeal to me.

It’s gonna be a long electrical run to get power out there unless I add another meter and rv post, neither of which are currently near the top 50 on my project spending list .
Click to expand...
Think harbor freight solar box and pantry and harbor freight pumps
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Back Refresh